If
it's a video game newsletter, it must be Retrogaming Times Monthly.
This month we got a mixture of old and new. We take a second look at an
old Many Faces review, a look at a newsletter every kid had in the 80s,
and some other stuff. We also have a new writer debuting this month,
who also looks at old games which are new again. So fire up that 2600
and let's get this issue cookin'.

This
month we will be taking a bit of a time leap forward, to a time when
there was little to no press about video games to be found. In the
middle of the 80s, after the video game market had crashed, and
retailers considered buzz words like "Atari" and "joysticks" to be a
dying fad, one company wasn't ready to throw the towel in. Sure, it
happened to be a Japanese company, and at the time Americans did not
have the greatest appreciation for Japanese business practices, so the
little company known as Nintendo found itself between a rock and a hard
place.

Nintendo
had their fabulous system, the Famicom, and they knew that American
children would eat it up just as the Japanese children had. They only
needed to convince American retailers to sell it to those children. But
in 1985, nobody wanted to touch games with a ten foot pole. Of course,
Nintendo had tried to go through an obvious avenue: Atari. They were
ready to sell the rights to distribute the Famicom in America to the
once great video game company of only a few years before, but the
company was imploding, and no one could attend to the deal before
Nintendo took it off the table and attempted to go it solo.

At the time, Nintendo of America had a very small, but loyal staff.
There was Minoru Arakawa, who was assigned to be the president of NOA
by his father-in-law Hiroshi Yamauchi, who happened to be the president
of Nintendo. And there was his famous lawyer friend Howard Lincoln. But
among the rest of the NOA staff, there happened to be a red haired
young man who was very passionate about video games, named Howard
Phillips. Howard Phillips was one of the first Americans to get to try
Donkey Kong. He worked in Nintendo's warehouses. And he was
instrumental in setting up many of the various in-store displays that
Nintendo arranged to promote the Nintendo Entertainment System, as the
Famicom has been decided to be named in the States.

Towards the end of 1986, the NES's popularity began to swell, and
when the time was right, NOA began to think of another method for
promoting their product. I like to think that they took a page from
Atari for their next idea when they decided on a publication. After
all, throughout the Atari 2600's heyday, Atari was supporting the
publication of Atari Age, a magazine specifically aimed at promoting
Atari developed video games and products. Atari Age, as well as the
many other publications around at the time, had quite a hand in
encouraging consumers to go out and buy video games that they otherwise
would not have been familiar with. The problem for Nintendo was those
publications were long gone, and no one had come along to fill in the
vacuum they left behind. So if anyone was going to, Nintendo would have
to do it for themselves. And so they did.

The first Nintendo Fun Club News came out in the late Winter of
1987. It was exactly 6 pages long, and the front page (since there was
no proper cover) featured a lengthy article on a game that would rise
to super stardom, but at the time had yet to make a dent in the market.
That game was Super Mario Bros. Turning the page, readers would find
more information on games such as Excitebike and Hogan's Alley, and a
Nintendo sponsored charity event. Sneak Peeks (another ironic
similarity to Atari Age) offered brief glimpses at Pro Wrestling and
Slalom. On the fourth page, you could read a little bit about the red
haired gentleman that I mentioned earlier, Howard Phillips. Howard, it
seemed, had risen through the ranks of Nintendo from being a warehouse
employee to Nintendo's lead game tester. Howard was part of a team that
had the responsibility of pouring over the Famicom's already vast line
up of cartridges and selecting the best of the bunch that would be made
ready for the US launch of the NES. He would also be on an advisory
board that made recommendations on how Japanese games should be altered
in order to be more suitable for the American market. But the job that
I envied most, was role as the President of the Nintendo Fun Club.

In my youth, I believed that being the President of this newsletter
meant he was the one responsible for it, but in truth it was Gail
Tilden who was the editor for the publication, as well as it's eventual
evolutionary successor, Nintendo Power. Gail Tilden was later promoted
to the head of marketing for all things Pokemon, but that wouldn't
happen for many years. For now, Gail, along with Howard Phillips' help
as the front man, were responsible for publishing a news letter that
promoted all the games that Nintendo had and would put out. In the
beginning, like Atari Age, the Nintendo Fun Club News articles never
strayed from the first party Nintendo titles. However, things began to
change by the third issue when they began printing ads for third party
companies. And in issue 5, a new regular feature called "Louie
Reviewee" began covering one third party game in depth per issue.

When the second issue came out in the Summer of 1987, it looked
very similar to the first issue, only it doubled in size to twelve
pages. And the feature on the cover this time was none other than the
Legend of Zelda. More tips were featured in this issue's Pro's Corner
feature, which filled up an entire page with tips, strategies, and
easter eggs. The NES Advantage controller was debuted in it's pages,
while Metroid and Kid Icarus were given Sneak Peeks. A score board
appeared with the names of ten players who had broken the 9,990,000
mark in Super Mario Bros., and Nintendo began promoting some
merchandise in the form of t-shirts, sweaters, a "How to Win at Super
Mario Bros." book (edited by Howard Phillips himself) and score pads.

Issue 3 arrived in the Fall of 1987, and it had finally matured as
a magazine so it was given a proper cover the prominently featured
artwork from the Legend of Zelda. Metroid and Kid Icarus were
officially previewed, calling a great deal of attention to their "new"
password feature. (The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus had
originally been designed as disk games which could be saved through the
Famicom Disk System. When making the transition to the states, Zelda
was given a battery back up feature which would emulate saving to a
disk, while Metroid and Kid Icarus were instead given passwords which
amounted to save files that were encoded with text.) After a brief
sneak peek at the soon to be released Mike Tyson's Punchout, players
were treated to the first feature that made the magazine so popular
among all the kids at school: a full blown map of the overworld in the
Legend of Zelda. Even the game didn't come with as detailed a map as
could be found in those pages. This instantly elevated the status of
the magazine from text-laden advertisement to goldmine. If that wasn't
enough, artwork from Zelda II was tantalizing printed a few pages later
in order to make every reader drool with anticipation.

The fourth issue arrived at the end of 1987 and featured the one
and only Mike Tyson in his pre ear biting prime. Now you were playing
with power. After the morsel of artwork from the last issue, Zelda II
was given a full two page preview that launched a torturous wait for
the games ultimate arrival over a full year later. Dragon Warrior was
also given a page sized preview, but it's role playing aspect was
severely downplayed, I suspect due to perception that American players
would not enjoy RPGs as much as more action oriented titles. The fourth
issue's treasure trove of info was in the form of a strategy guide to
beating the various underworld level bosses in Zelda, as well as
showing a shortcut to the end of Metroid, illustrating the infamous
wall jump technique in Metroid, and finally cracking the code to the
treasure rooms in Kid Icarus. When I was 12, this info was more
valuable to me than the hottest stock market tip available.

With issue 5 and on, the magazine didn't gain many impressive
features, but the valuable content just kept coming. Tips and secrets
galore. The boxers in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out were dissected and the NES
Max, perhaps my favorite joypad ever, was introduced. In issue 6, the
early regions of Zelda II were mapped out and the second quest in the
first Zelda was explained and explored. And issue 7 contained advanced
techniques for Metroid Players as well as tips for every Nintendo
produced sports title. In these issue, three non-Nintendo published
games also shared some of the spotlight: Goonies II, Wizards &
Warriors, and the ever popular beat'em up, Double Dragon.

The fact that Nintendo began to fill the pages with reviews of
third party titles, as well as more heapings of advertisements is
evidence of two things. For one thing, the Nintendo Fun Club News had
done it's job, and done it extremely well. Nintendo's popularity was
going nowhere but up, and the fan's demand for content was ravenous.
The more secrets that the newsletter revealed, the more popular it
became. But in order to fill that demand for content, Nintendo had to
look beyond it's own little camp, which leads to the second thing.
Nintendo was not quite like Atari. Atari looked upon third party
companies as vultures and jackals, trying to hone in on the market that
it created for itself. Nintendo, on the other hand, was smart enough to
realize that not only are third parties beneficial to their system,
they could be an even greater source of revenue then their own
developments.

Nintendo was content to let some of the other companies produce a
majority of the titles that were made available for their system. Once
the system's popularity was set in motion, all they had to do was sit
back, let the third party contracts roll in, and release the occasional
blockbuster triple-A title just to show the world that when it comes to
games, Nintendo is still number one. Since Nintendo was slowing down
the development of smaller titles and focusing on bigger games like
Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda II, there really wasn't enough content
coming from Nintendo itself to form the basis of a newsletter. And Gail
Tilden and Howard Phillips knew it. So while issue 7 highlighted no new
games coming from Nintendo, it had an even bigger announcement, the
announcement of an even bigger magazine. That magazine was going to be
called Nintendo Power, and it would cover every game imaginable,
whether it was made by Nintendo or not.

Unlike Atari Age, while I had to say goodbye to my new favorite
magazine, I was going to be saying hello to a dream come true in a few
months, so it wasn't as heart wrenching. It's no easy task to evaluate
just how instrumental the Nintendo Fun Club News was to Nintendo's
early success with the NES, but with every pearl of wisdom that got
printed in it's pages, players only became more excited about each new
release. Nintendo obviously saw the value of this when they decided to
move to a larger publication. While the newsletter pails in comparison
to it's larger sibling, each one still holds a special place in my
heart when I glance at the pages that humbly announce games that would
go on to be legends in their own time.

The Lost Many Faces of . . . Demon
Attack

by Alan Hewston

This month we uncover 3 of the Lost Faces of Demon Attack. We'll
actually review all classic "Joystick" era home versions, but focus
more on the 3 that I had not previously reviewed in the Retrogaming
Times. My plan was to make this a catch up "Lost Faces of Demon Attack"
review or a bonus article, and still have the regular Many Faces of
review. I got too far along on this one and had to delay the Many Faces
of Venture - my apologies.

The original Many Faces of Demon Attack review I wrote over 4
years ago, back in RT issue #36. That was only my third set of reviews,
so I was still early on my journey reviewing the Many Faces, as I am
now up to nearly 350 reviews. At that time I had not completed the
necessary background research to make sure I accounted for all official
releases. I missed 3 versions, most notably I was told of a great C64
version that came out only on disk. "You've gotta review that one". I
also missed the TI-99 and CoCo versions, which I now have, but back
then I didn't even have those systems, yet alone the carts. The TI-99
version of Demon Attack I did mention in my original review as an
unreleased prototype. It was never officially released, but I still
have yet to do my homework for the TI-99 version to determine why the
cart labeled as "Super Demon Attack" has a title screen that says
"Demon Attack". Was an earlier version planned for release? Was there a
licensing problem? Was the early version delayed, then enhanced, then
released as "Super Demon Attack"? Was this a sequel? Well now that I've
played the game I can address some of this. It was not a sequel but
more or less a copy of the Intellivision version. So the TI-99 cart
"Super Demon Attack" is hereby considered official and welcomed into
our Many Faces of Demon Attack family. I'm sure that TI-99 fans will
want to know what happened with this name change etc. So . . . we'll
ask RTM staff writer Bryan Roppolo to investigate this and perhaps
report back to us next month or so.

In the previous Many Faces of Demon Attack review (See RT#36), I
did not labor nearly as much to discover and document the details or
scores anywhere near what I have done lately. I made some general notes
on the categories (no scores) and gave just an overall score for each
version, and handed out the medals. Reader feedback indicates that
several of you do appreciate the added details and ask that I continue
to provide as much as I can. Hopefully the details encourage you to
both play these great games again, and maybe to look for the details
and shortfalls of different versions as I do. Now that I've been doing
this for almost 5 years, this is my chance to update all Demon Attack
scores and medals. That means replaying every version again, and
focusing on the new versions in my collection.

Take Two . . . The Many Faces of Demon Attack, the game that Atari
sued Imagic over saying it was too much like Phoenix; the game that
original programmer Rob Fulop calls a "Death From Above" game; and
finally the Imagic game that I think had the best TV advertisement.

Home Version Similarities: Except those in <> all
home versions have: a demo <O2, TI>; pause <2600, 8 bit,
O2>; a choice of starting at a higher difficulty (approx Wave 13)
<TI, C64>; a choice of regular or tracer shots <TI>; play 1
or 2 players, or alternate in 4 second intervals throughout the game
<TI, C64, Vic>; Demons dramatically warp in to attack <INTY,
TI>; three rows (altitudes) of demons are present <INTY, O2,
TI>, with the lowermost dropping bombs <TI, INTY>; you only
have one shot to fire at a time, which appears ready to go on your
laser base <CoCo, O2, TI, Vic 20, INTY> once the previous shot
has hit the enemy or cleared the screen; holding the fire button down
will automatically release your next laser cannon fire when available;
even better - the INTY version alone has an automatic continuous firing
capability which can be toggled on via any keypad button, and off via
the fire buttons; once a Demon or complete pair has been eliminated, a
new replacement Demon will "warp" <INTY, TI> into that slot,
provided all Demons per wave have not been exhausted; the Demons seem
to dance within their row <INTY, TI> and move hypnotically to
avoid being hit, and once the lowest row is empty, those above will
descend to fill it; there are up to 12 unique waves of increasing
difficulty; in each wave, all Demons have the same armament, either a
spread of bombs or a pair of lasers aimed downward <INTY, O2,
TI>; after a few waves, the Demons, when hit will split into a pair
<TI, INTY> of two smaller Demons, each then moves separately,
only one will drop bombs but once one is eliminated, the other (except
early stages) will stop dropping bombs and begin to dive at you,
letting out a chirping sound while dropping in a fast pendulum like
motion until it has reached the surface where it disappears; as the
waves increase, the action will speed up <CoCo>, the Demons will
become more deadly, attacking at lower altitudes <INTY, TI>; drop
either heat seeking bombs or tracer bombs/lasers <C64 ? unsure>;
ultimately becoming very small and harder to hit <INTY, TI>; on
the 2600 the 12 waves continue over and over for 6 more cycles before
the game ends abruptly upon completion of wave #84; lives remaining are
shown on the screen; extra laser canons can be earned (up to a max of 6
at one time) for each wave that is completed without losing a laser
canon; a jingle is heard at the end of a wave where you've earned a
bonus life <INTY, O2>; there is a slight break between each wave
before the Demons begin warping back in to start the next wave
<INTY, TI>; there's a so called 2 player "co-op" version <TI,
C64, Vic> where 1 player is in control and scores points then the
laser canon changes color and the other player takes over, where the
action switches indefinitely every 4 seconds, alternating players - in
reality this is a "competitive" game, as your points are separate, (is
there much value in such an option anyhow?); when you lose your final
laser cannon, you'll hear <CoCo, TI, INTY> a fleeing spaceship
sound - similar to Imagic's Atlantis, but not actually see anything on
screen.

A negative "feature" of the software on nearly all versions is
that of double-deaths. You lose a life, the action continues on and
your next cannon may appear directly underneath Demon droppings and
all-too-often you cannot escape yet another death. The C64 is the only
version that resets each wave to prevent this injustice. On the CoCo
you'll encounter fewer or no double deaths if you are careful. For one,
the Demons are a bit higher up which helps. But if you do not move or
shoot, the Demons will be moving, but they do not fire until you move
or fire. So the action is suspended so to speak. The INTY version
doesn't reset, but gives you a sporting chance. If you are quick to
think as you die, shift your controller L or R so that the next canon,
although arriving almost immediately, gets shifted (L or R) away from a
possible double death before it materializes.

Home versions with the screen 2 aka the Demon Base
Pandemonium:

Intellivision: The first version to have a second screen,
that of attacking the flagship. After surviving 48 Demons (6 waves of 8
Demons which occur seemingly non-stop) at the Moon Station Tranquility,
your Laser Cannon lifts off and goes on the offensive versus the Demon
flagship. You are immediately greeted by Suicide Patrollers that spew
forth early and often from the mothership and come directly downward on
a collision course with your canon. Though they do not fire, you must
hit them or be eliminated, all the while you need to attack the
mothership. With 6 or more descending simultaneously, they provide an
added Demon shield, to prevent your shots from reaching their
mothership. When you do hit the mothership, its flickering shield
become weaker and weaker, eventually allowing a shot that passes
through the Window of Vulnerability (a weak spot in the revolving
shields). A fantastic explosion will occur if your shot hits the Core
of Pandemonium. If you lose a laser cannon on this screen, your next
one immediately comes into play and the flagship stage continues. This
stage is very difficult, and so busy with the patrollers that learning
the game play mechanics of the Pandemonium's shield system will be
tough. Unlike the Moonbase screen, you cannot earn a bonus life after
this wave (same for all versions), but instead, the mothership's demise
will earn you 1000 points.

Commodore 64: After only 3 Demons waves on the Moon, you
take on the Demon flagship. But you only get one chance with each visit
to Pandemonium. Lose a cannon and you're back on the Moon base. After
your first attack on the flagship Pandemonium, every wave alternates
between defending the Moonbase and attacking Pandemonium. I'd prefer 6
or at least 3 waves and then face Pandemonium. Like the INTY version,
the patrollers coming down out of Pandemonium, and you must defeat them
and the flagship. You have more time to watch the patrollers descent
and attack them before they get on top of you. A completely different
shield system is used by the mothership, making it invulnerable to your
laser cannon's attack. The key to defeating the otherwise invincible
mothership is to use its Suicide Patrollers against it. You must hit a
newly spawned patrollers just inside the mothership's shields. You'll
see the patrollers working their way out of the multi-colored defense
shield layers and once they are near the edge, they become vulnerable
to your cannon attack. Their explosion causes damage to the shields
removing the outermost colored layer, and revealing the next layer -
closer to Pandemonium's core. I love this concept. Is this the first VG
or first boss where you use its own weapon's again itself? When hit a
replacement patroller will soon spawn out of the core and start coming
for you. If you evade, miss or ignore them, when they reach your level
they don't go away (like the divers) they become hyperactive, doing
flips like "following the bouncing ball" in a relentless attempt to hit
you. Once Pandemonium's shields are gone, a single blast into its
roving "eye" does it in. Subsequent visits greets you with more
patrollers, possibly up to 6? [The CoCo version has 6]. Unlike the
panic mode of the Intellivision version from the first time you face
Pandemonium, the C64 offers a nicer progression of difficulty where you
learn how to defeat the enemy, but it will be several more visits
before you have met your match. There is actual strategy here, not just
kill or be killed. Avoid or destroy the lower patrollers but focus on
hitting the ones just inside the shields.

TI-99: The same as the Inty, and still not much time to
react. Once the patrollers have been dispatched, and the shields gone,
a BIG bobbing head doll pops up in front of the Eye. Fireballs are
unleashed your way - how rude and the big head blocks your shots as
well. There's not much time to see what is going on. Keep dodging or
shooting the fireballs, and hope that you get a shot past the fireballs
and bobbing head and hit the Eye. A great explosion will then occur.

CoCo: Almost exactly like the C64 but the shields remain
the same size. A color layer does not peel away, but each hit makes the
density of the shields lesser (thinner). Once the eye is vulnerable,
you simply need to hit it as it roves back and forth. A little
different than the C64 version in that you make it to Pandemonium after
6 waves of Demons on the Moon. But you still get kicked out as soon as
you lose one cannon, and continue to alternate 1 wave of Demons on the
Moon and then 1 versus the flagship.

Have Nots: Odyssey 2 (31) My first reaction was at least you have more than one
life. Only 2 rows of Demons, a single block represents their bombs, but
still most of the Gameplay is in tact for a respectable (6). There's
even tracer bombs by the Demons, but no demo. The strategy/fun is
clearly changed with 1/3 of the Demons now gone. Addictiveness is good
enough (6) to make this one of the best O2 games to play, but it is
very difficult and has terribly unfair collision detection problems.
The Graphics are acceptable (5), a little bit choppy, not much detail,
but some animated flapping and dancing. The Demons still dramatically
warp in, have multi-colors and split. Sound is average (5), with
chirping and all the effects save a bonus life. But everything is
repetitive and limited, and there is not much change in frequency or
hypnotic rhythm found in all other versions (Oops, not the TI either).
Controls are analog so you cannot easily park and shoot (9). This is
the rarest cart to find, but is found on the O2 multi-cart.

Have Nots: TI-99 (33)
My first reaction was the game is by no means SUPER.
Looks like the programmer never saw the 2600 version and the result is
a poor Intellivision copy. The programming included crummy controls to
boot - more on that later. Sure they used brilliant hi-res graphics for
the Moon surface and Earth, and added lots more color and detail than
the Inty could provide, but the Demons seem to be even more oversized
and silly looking. I guess I expected too much, and was let down.
Gameplay is close to matching the INTY, and worth while (7), but the
oversized objects take away some of the playability. There's no demo
and no option for the tracer shots. The Demons have semi intelligent
bombs to give you something more to worry about. The Addictiveness is
good enough (6) to play for a while, but this is the version you'll
quit playing soonest. The pause <P> works fine and you might use
it often due to the long, non-stop battle before you finally make it to
screen 2. There's no starting wave difficulty, which is fine since the
difficulty is already too hard to begin with. Then the collision
detection is a mess, and then the added background graphics make it
hard to see the bombs in front of the Earth. The Graphics are effective
(7) with many details to the Demons and the great hi-res background.
But for this version and all with background graphics - why didn't they
move the Earth up higher in the sky - to avoid the difficulty seeing
the bombs? Despite no warping in of the Demons and not so much as a
single flapping wing you'll discover the most creative and animated
Demons this side of Neptune. Sound is mediocre (5) lacking most notably
any sound for shots fired. Then, there's none of the charming 2600
effects like warping in, diving, weaving and other rhythmic sound
effects. You hear them being hit, but not yourself. There is a jingle
when you earn a bonus life, but nothing when the game quietly ends.
Controls score an (8) due to buggy programming. You cannot move if the
fire button is pressed. So you either have to release it each time you
want to move, or if you are already moving, then you can hold down the
fire button. This is really clumsy and to me is at best a joke that if
I didn't tell you about, you may have tried to destroy your controllers
before you figured out what the heck was going on. Of course, that info
is not found in the manual. Finally the enemy and it bombs can move L/R
faster than you - geez. Gimme a break - it looks great, but where's the
strategy, where's the challenge, where's the fun.

Have Nots: Intellivision (35) My first reaction was despite the game being nothing
like the Atari 2600, it has grown on me over 4 years and now gets a
little higher Gameplay score - impressive (8) with god depth. It's hard
to be fair in adding in points for new game elements all the while
subtracting points for something that is missing. I've added points for
the variety of enemy weaponry, unique attacks and of course, having a
second screen is huge. But then subtracting for having almost no
strategy, compared with the original, 3 rows of warping in, dancing,
multi-bombing, splitting, diving Demons. The spastically moving Demons
makes it play more like a mindless shoot'em up to me. The Demons are
too large, taking away some of the playfield as well. Addictiveness is
very fun (8) and the standard INTY diagonal buttons <pause> is
great, especially since the first screen seems to last so long. Playing
6 waves nearly non-stop - without so much as even a jingle before you
blast off to the second screen is a bit much. The option to play a
harder starting level seems somewhat wasted as the regular level is
plenty difficult. The 3 Demon types are OK, but hardly have the charm
of the 12 varying waves of slightly harder Demon types from the 2600
original. The bombs are a little harder to see with the background
graphics, but not too bad. Graphics are good enough to enjoy (6)
especially the Pandemonium Flagship, Earth and Moon graphics. But the
Demons lack detail, are mono colored, and are lifeless. Sound is OK (6)
with effects to match all gameplay elements except for the missing
bonus laser cannon. Overall this version has the fewest sound elements
- no warping in or diving Demons. Controls (7) are frustrating to me
for such a fast-action, non-stop firing game. Toggling the automatic
& continuous firing feature on (any keypad button) and off (any
fire button) will help at times. The cart comes in 2 label variations -
same code inside.

Have Nots: TRS 80 /Color
Computer (39)
My first reaction was AWESOME! I wanted to play it all night. We don't
get to see the CoCo here very often, and I was nearly done with my
reviews before I realized that I had forgotten it completely. Oh for
shame (on me), as this version would hands down win a Gold medal if
given out for effort alone. This game is one of the finest examples of
programming as best as possible given the capabilities of the machine.
Demon Attack pushed the CoCo 1 to the limit - well done. The Gameplay
is phenomenal (9), matching the C64 with the best of both worlds - ie
every element and all types of enemies of the 2600, plus the thrill of
attacking the mothership from the Inty (screen 2). The Addictiveness is
very fun (8), close enough to match the medal winners. The hi-res
backgrounds again make it hard to see the Demons bombs, but not too
bad. The pause is tricky but works <P> to toggle on and <R>
to resume. Most of the starting options are there, like 2 players,
tracer shot attack and higher difficulty - which included invisible
Demons. That's right, now you see them, now you don't - alternating
every 3 seconds.

Their bombs remain in view, but watch out for the invisible divers.
The only big drawback is the game speed is pretty constant and does not
speed up, so you'll have to get used to a slower paced game. There are
minor, infrequent glitches like a stray laser heading up from the wrong
place and a stray bomb comes done from the wrong Demon. Another factor
to add slight difficulty (which also changes the strategy a little as
well) is that when a Demon is diving, the level above will begin
bombing you right away. Graphics are exciting (7), but limited to 4
colors (R/B/Bl/W). The Demons warp in with multi-color, have some
detail, are animated and dance well. The graphics are mostly smooth,
with only a few glitches and the hi-res backgrounds are nice. The Sound
is the biggest liability (6), good enough to enjoy the game. There's
not really much missing, but most of the effects are different or not
very realistic. Effects seem to be similar or repeated. Controls score
(9) due to the analog joystick making it very hard to precisely stop
and center the stick exactly where you want to without bumping it
either.

A keyboard control to augment this would have helped, but otherwise
just realize you'll lose a few lives this way and /or spend a lot more
time playing each wave than you would if you had more precise controls.
The cart is not too common, but then there's also not too much demand
for CoCo games either.

See RTM CoCo expert Mark Sabbatini's review back in issue #02 - he
scored this one a grade "B". Mark will probably agree with most of my
scores, but hopefully not feel cheated as his favorite still falls
short of a medal.

Silver Medals: Atari 8 bit,
Atari 2600 & Vic 20 (42)

Demon Attack on Atari 8-Bit

Demon Attack on Atari 2600

Demon Attack on Commodore Vic-20

It is amazing how similar these titles are. I kept playing these 3 over
an over trying to find any weakness to break the tie - but the all
deserve a medal. They all scored within a half a point of each other on
all categories. Gameplay (8) is all there and complete. Addictiveness
(8) is enjoyable across the board. They all have the dreaded double
deaths. The 2600 A/B difficulty is nice and not offered on the others.
The Vic doesn't have the 2-player co-op game, but then more than makes
up for that with a pause <R/S>. I also like how the Vic begins
each wave with a warp in at the top level, the Demon descends and
subsequent warp ins always occur at the top. Sure this makes it easier,
but really makes the game funner by eliminating another random bad luck
element of the first Demon warps in on the bottom and smokes you right
away. That never happens here, as you always have a fighting change to
control your own fate. OK, where were we . . . Graphics are beautiful
(8) with nice detail, multi-color, explosions, animation, and variety.
The 8 bit is the best, and the Vic the worst, but still all within the
same range. The Vic has the least smooth graphics and also lacks the
next shot ready, but is the only version where the diver changes color
for the duration of its descent. The Sound is crisp (8) for all
versions and there's nothing missing. The Controls are perfect (10).
Overall, the 8 bit is probably the best here, but not by much. If were
to pick one to play, it would be the Vic due to the pause feature. The
lack of a pause button is a real bummer in a game that has an ending
(wave 84) that seems within reach. Sure I will probably not find time
to do play or be good enough to marathon this game, but I know for sure
that I will not try it on a version lacking a pause.

Vic 20
My first reaction was the game is reported to be so well coded it may
have been a direct port of the 2600 source code. Andrew Tonkin wrote a
Vic 20 review back in Retrogaming Times issue #72 and scored this a
9/10.

Atari 2600
My first reaction was it was the original and is still nearly the best.

Atari 8 bit
My first reaction was the game is superior when compared to the 2600,
but still not enough in any category to score it any differently.

Gold Medal: Commodore 64 (44)
My first reaction was brilliant, the best of combining the 2600 and
Intellivision. But the more I played it, I discovered some reasons to
bring it back to Earth. The Gameplay is fantastic (9), with all the
best elements in place from both the 2600 & INTY, missing only
tracer enemies and/or some heat seeking bombs (unless they come much
later). I'd prefer playing the Demon wave 3 to 6 times before facing
Pandemonium. The Addictiveness is enjoyable (8) with a pause feature
and never a chance of a double death. Drawbacks are no 2 player co-op
game, and increased difficulty due to the hi-res graphics making it
hard to see the bombs. The Graphics are superb (9), hands down the best
with the best detail, color, multi-color, hi-res graphics, many
enemies, bombs, patrollers, animation, dancing and warping in. Sound is
pleasant (8) and no different than any other medal winner. Controls are
perfect (10). Only bad news is that this baby is hard to find for sure
and only on disk.

Once again sorry for the change this month. Please come back next
time in the simplified console-only battle between the Intellivision,
Colecovision and Atari 2600 for the Many Faces of Venture. Contact Alan
"Many Faces of" Hewston at: Hewston95@NOSPAMstratos.net
or visit the Many Faces of site: http://my.stratos.net/~hewston95/RT/ManyFacesHome.htm.

Retrogaming Commercial Vault

by Adam King

After a one-month hiatus, the Commercial Vault is back for more TV
goodness. This month I have an ad for a famous computer, the Commodore
Vic-20. When Commodore started advertising the Vic-20, they needed a
spokesman. Since Atari got Alan Alda to hawk their computer line,
Commodore decided to have William Shatner as their spokesman. That's
right, Captain Kirk himself endorsed the Vic-20, believe it or not. In
this ad he's standing in space as he shows us why the Vic is "The
wonder computer of the 1980s". Let's see what he has to say about the
good ol' Vic.

"Why buy just a video game from Atari or Intellivision?
Invest in the wonder computer of the 1980s for under $300, the
Commodore Vic-20. Unlike games, it has a real computer keyboard. With a
Commodore Vic-20, the whole family can learn computing at home. Plays
great games, too. Under $300! The wonder computer of the 1980s, the
Commodore Vic-20!"

PICTURES:

"I don't need the Enterprise to be in space."

Scotty beams up a Vic

Take a close look at the "wonder computer of the 80s".

Wow. This kid's playing a game in space.

"Wouldn't you rather have this instead of an Apple?"

Now I wish to address something. I've been doing this column for the
better part of three years, and I'm beginning to feel that the Vault
has run its course. I am considering retiring the column. But I know
there are many readers who enjoy getting their commercials fix. So if
you want me to continue the Vault, let me know. Also offer any
suggestions you have to freshen up this column a little.

Can't believe we've gone this long covering Tengen NES games
without mentioning Pac-Man. It's hard to think of a game that has
stronger roots in popular culture or that has had more impact on the
industry as a whole. Developed by in Japan by Namco, Pac-Man was really
the game that made the world stand up and notice video gaming across
the board in terms of age groups and mass media. Pac-Man was truly
America's first video game merchandising powerhouse leading to endless
amounts of shirts, stuffed toys, lunchboxes, phones, a short-lived
cartoon series, a cult favorite song, and pretty much anything else one
could imagine. I in fact carried a Pac-Man lunchbox to work with me for
many years just not too long ago, it was always a good conversation
starter. The world certainly did have "Pac-Man fever." Namco even
adapted Pacy as their unofficial mascot. As the years rolled on Pac-Man
never lost its luster and continued to be ported to nearly every gaming
system on the planet, including countless reworks, sequels and
spin-offs. It made perfect sense for an NES version of this classic
among classics, and Tengen was up to the challenge. After the legal
sue-fest between Nintendo and Tengen a licensed version by Namco was
released. While the cartridge exteriors are different, the games are
exactly the same except for the title screen copyright information.

Where the Tengen port of Ms. Pac-Man threw in extra features and
play modes, Pac-Man is a straight port of the arcade classic. This may
seem disappointing at first but a well-done straight port is always
better than a lackluster reproduction with extra features. The maze
layout is exactly as it was in the arcade and all the colors are spot
on, given the limitations of the NES color palette. On the NES Pac-Man
plays exactly as it did in the arcade with responsive controls. The
action does move a bit slower then it did originally but the speeds are
consistent and unless you're going back and forth between the NES and
arcade you won't notice the slight pacing difference. Blinky, Pinky,
Inky, and Clyde all move about the maze with their characteristic
speeds and movement and movement techniques to lead them transfer over
well from the arcade. I'm not sure as to if their patterns are the same
as they were in the arcade since I missed that part of the arcade
culture by a few years. However I figure if you're proficient enough to
remember the patterns in Pac-Man after all these years then you'll
probably not be playing this on the NES but on a dedicated machine in
your game room or basement. The audio is again spot on given the
limitations of the NES with nicely reproduced sound effects and music
in the intermission sequences, which are exact to the arcade original.

There's really not a whole lot to say here since it's a solid
8-bit port of Pac-Man, a game where there really isn't anything that
hasn't been said about it. If you're looking for some classic
retrogaming on your NES you really can't go wrong with Pac-Man and no
matter which release you pick up you'll have a good time. At the time
of writing this Pac-Man seems to be selling at most used game stores
for $10 to $15 less than Ms. Pac-Man so it's a nice alternative if
you're not into tossing down $25 for a loose used NES cartridge.

I got into classic gaming a few years ago and have noticed that
there are many more gamers getting into the movement. Even the big
companies have now seen that there is money in it and they are
releasing compilations, plug and play, and other classic gaming items.
That's why I am here, I am going to concentrate on this wave of devices
and games and try to give some insight and information before you spend
your hard earned dollars.

This month I want to talk about the enormous collection from Atari
for the Playstation 2 entitled Atari Anthology. This compilation is
also available for the Xbox (and PlayStarion 2) and contains many games
from the 2600 era. This DVD is packed with 85 games, more than enough
to satisfy your classic gaming sweet tooth. Below is a list of games
included.

As you can see, there are arcade titles from Atari and many 2600
titles, some of them never before released. Some of the games are just
filler (I am sure you have been dying to play Fun With Numbers) and
some are wonderful recreations of our beloved arcade classics.

After inserting the game you are started off with a Galaxy screen.
There are different constellations that represent game categories.
Choose form action, adventure, arcade at home, arcade originals, mind
games, casino, racing, space and sports. Once you choose your group,
then you get to choose the particular game. After choosing your game
you then are directed to the Solar System screen. This screen gives you
more options and how to play your game. There is Time Challenge (score
as many points you can before time is up), Trippy Mode (the screen
changes colors and other weird things), Time Warp (the game will go
fast and slow), Hot Seat (the game will switch between the other
versions of the game) and Double Speed (double the fun). Not all modes
are available, you may need to unlock them. This type of interface is
neat but can become cumbersome because of all the back and forth
between the menus.

After all the choosing you are able to start the game. You will
have on screen menus for the reset and game selections when playing a
2600 game. And you can also modify the controls, this will come in
handy when playing paddle games. Also, when playing arcade games you
have the option of seeing the cabinet art, a very nice touch.

The game play is good, even with the Playstation controller. It's
not the same feel you would get on the original 2600 joystick, but
nothing real is. Some games play better than others. It is still
difficult to play games designed for a roller ball, like Missile
Command or Crystal Castles, but I was able to get pretty far in both
for it to be fun. I enjoyed playing the 2600 games and the graphics
look the same with the blocky characters and smaller resolution. The
audio is good also, the sounds are very similar to the original.
Without doing a side by side listening test, I would say they are right
on.

Another nice touch is the bonus material. You get every
instruction manual for each game and some of them have extras like
patches and pins that go with the game. There is even video of the
Father of Atari, Nolan Bushnell. It is the same video as the last Atari
compilations of various consoles, but still a great addition.

This compilation is great if you are an Atari fan. And if you
don't want to pull out the old wood grain 2600 then this is the
replacement. It won't keep you interested for hours but it is a good
pickup for the price. About $20 new and $15 used.

One of the great things about classic games is that the vast
majority of them had a score. The score was an instant way of knowing
how good you were at a particular game. And getting the "High Score"
was better than a knighthood.

My local Fish and Chip take away shop had 2 arcade machines that I
played all the time, Gyruss and Bomb Jack. Quite regularly I would get
the new "High Score" and be able to put my "initials" at the very top
of the high score chart. It was always a proud moment and you knew that
your other friends who would come and play the game would see your
initials and know that you were the current champion. My biggest boast
was when I scored my highest ever score on Gyruss and I had the "High
Score" for over three weeks.

Getting a high score on your home consoles was a slightly
different matter. Like many people I kept a notebook on which I would
record the games and the high scores. Many of my friends had a similar
way of recording their high scores.

But we soon discovered that keeping a notebook was very open to
abuse. This came to light when one guy in our class kept claiming he
was getting these huge high scores that were more than double of anyone
else. His ridiculous scores were questionable enough, but when he
failed to ever outscore anyone else when we played together, we knew
something was up. So we decided that any "official" high scores had to
be witnessed by one other person. The witness would then have to sign
the score when it was put into the notebook.

This did produce some problems. It was very annoying to rack up a
huge score on your own only to have no witness to make that an
"official" score. However, there was one time when I got an official
score that no one ever beat.

Whenever we went to a person's house for an afternoon of gaming,
we would always play that person's system of choice - or at least play
the only system that person owned. Whenever people came to my house it
was always the mighty Vic 20 that was brought out to play. Gridrunner
quickly became the hot game and we regularly spent entire afternoons
trying to out play each other. It was during one of these huge
Gridrunner marathons that I scored my unbeatable score. The sweat was
dripping down my face, blisters were forming on my hands and the
Commodore power supply was ready to overheat and explode. When my last
man died I had racked up the score of 144,000. I was absolutely blown
away at my gaming brilliance. The score was written down on my
notebook, signed by a witness, and never beaten by any of my friends. I
was officially the Gridrunner champion.

Well that is my story, what about yours? Do you have fond memories
of getting the new "High Score" on your favourite arcade machine? Did
you ever hold the high score record on any particular game? Did you
ever score more than 144,000 on Gridrunner? Why not email me with your
"High Score Memories".

The first mass-market home computer might be associated with
positive marketable words like dandy, handy, candy, randy (OK, skip
that one) in an all-in-one unit costing a mere $599. At a time when
most machines were being built by hobbyists from kits, often dealing
with headaches such as missing parts, it might have been seen as the
one that convinced people computers could be user-friendly.

But n-o-o-o-o. Corporate bigwigs had other ideas.

The suits in Texas at Tandy Corp., which acquired Radio Shack in
1963, decided the corporate initials were ideal for its first home
machine, releasing it as the TRS-80 in 1977. It takes little
imagination, especially for geek-minded hackers, to stretch that into
the infamous "Trash-80" label the machines are forever stuck with. The
executives were also a bit tentative about its potential appeal.

"Company management was unsure of the computer's market appeal,
and intentionally kept the initial production run to 3,000 units so
that, if the computer failed to sell, it could at least be used for
accounting purposes within the chain's 3,000 stores," a Wikipedia
article notes.

Meanwhile, a couple of fruity-minded folks in California became
insanely rich by releasing that year the Apple II, considered the first
true revolution in home computing. In the chronicles of pre-PC cyber
history, the TRS-80 is permanently doomed to second-tier status behind
Apple, Atari and Commodore.

The Model I, as it became known in 1979 when Tandy released the
business-oriented Model II, had a lot going for it. Users could load
and play a few included games within minutes of taking it out of the
box. They could get help and buy stuff at stores easily found in cities
nationwide. It was a huge hit initially, selling 10,000 its first month
and more than 250,000 before it was discontinued in 1981.

But the black-and-white machine, especially early models, were
plagued with quirks and problems, in part because Tandy built them with
cheap parts and partially because strongly discouraged third-party
development.

On the hardware front, the display flickered when given certain
commands. Displaying too much white could throw the horizontal
alignment out of sync. A keyboard "bounce" problem caused multiple
characters to appear with a single stroke. The cassette tape interface
used to read files and an expansion board were unreliable. And it was
discontinued because it violated the FCC's radio frequency interference
regulations - some game programmers used the interference to provide
sound through AM radios users put next to their computer.

Tandy's failure to offer support to third-party developers (a
practice that doomed a number of computer companies) drove them to
Apple, who during their early years strongly welcomed them with open
arms. Given all those factors, there's no way the TRS-80 should have
this many games that are this good.

Programmers didn't have a lot to work with: a text display of 64
or 32 horizontal characters and 16 vertical lines; a graphics display
of 128 by 48 pixels; monotone bleep-and-blip sound that had to be
channeled through a cassette port or external speaker. The initial
machine came with a mere 4K of RAM and a stripped-down BASIC in 4K of
ROM, although upgrades to 48K RAM and a 12K Level II BASIC became
available. It did have a powerful-for-the-time Z80 processor running at
1.8 mhz and could support up to four floppy disk drives, which greatly
aided those programming in-depth titles.

Ultimately hundreds of commercial titles, and thousands of
magazine and user games, were written for the machine, with obviously
only a small percentage of them reviewed here. The reviews are based on
playing them on several emulators to ensure a fair assessment of speed,
playability and other factors are made. Probably the best emulation
option for most users is the free multi-platform MESS, available at
www.mess.org. Easier-to-use emulators - some of which cost a nominal
amount - along with many software and document resources can be found
at the TRS-80 Webring at www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=trs80;action=list.
An outstanding way of getting a quick hand-on feel for the machine,
albeit with only a handful of very simple games, is Jeff Vavasour's
browser-based emulator at www.vavasour.ca/jeff/trs80.html.

The most reliable method for running programs is placing a NEWDOS
DSK file in the first virtual drive and a DSK file with the game
file(s) in the second. A listing of the programs can be obtained by
typing DIR :1 (the colon may be generated with the unshifted semicolon
key on some emulators). Any file with a CMD after it can be run by
typing its name without the CMD extension. Programs with a BAS
extension can be run by typing BASIC, RUN "FILENAME/BAS" (the quote is
often SHIFT-2 on emulators). If an error message results try retyping
the RUN "FILENAME" portion a second time.

Acorn Invaders From Space (C-)
A cheesy Space Invaders, due to primitive graphics and clumsy
programming such as having invaders drop a level after a set number of
moves even if they don't reach the edge of the screen. The pluses are
fast gameplay and lots of customizable options such as enemy shot
accuracy and number of player ships, but it's not enough to sustain
interest.

Alien Cresta (B-)
A simple port of Moon Cresta, a Phoenix-type shooter where the player
can beef up firepower by docking and merging with other ships (becoming
larger and more vulnerable, similar to Galaga) every few waves. The
aliens here are limited to a single type with Phoenix-like movements,
unlike the variety of the original, and the graphics and sound are
somewhat clunky and sparse. Still, it's fun enough carry over the
spirit of its predecessor.

Alien Defense (B)
This Defender port is considered a classic by many TRS-80 fans and
deserves much of that reputation where gameplay is concerned. Landers,
mutants, pods and the rest of the usual cast is here, with the same
point values and ability to rescue men while navigating around the
horizontally scrolling planet. Speed is excellent, as is sound. The
biggest problem is the controls. The number keys 1-3 and 8-9, along
with the enter and space keys are used. It's highly awkward, a bad
thing for a high-speed game. Those really wanting a punishing
experience, however, could buy the book Alien Defense Commentated, a
source code listing of the game (I believe it took up more than 100
pages). Typing in the code probably took up a 40-hour week and
debugging the inevitable typos another 20. But if you understood
machine language you'd be able to modify game parameters such as the
controls.

Alien's Eggs (B+)
A very good Moon Cresta spin-off featuring the same three-part
piggyback ship from the arcade fighting a nasty if somewhat monotonous
set of aliens. Waves of eggs move in patterns at the top of the screen
until shot, then turn into one of several aliens that try to ram and
shoot the player's ship. The obvious strategy is to shoot one egg at a
time and destroy the hatchlings, but don't stall - go too long without
hitting an egg and they all hatch at once. Every 2,000 points the
player, if on their first or second part of the ship, can try to dock
with the next largest piece, gaining more firepower and vulnerability.
The docking is actually the one weakness - it occurs far less
frequently than the arcade and thus dooms players to spending more time
with single-segment ships that can be found in most shooters. The only
other hassle is the scrolling star field, which would be a nice touch
if the stars didn't look a lot like the enemies' shots.

Apple Panic (B)
A lot of people scoff at this early platform game, so take the fact
I've always liked it with a grain of salt. It originated in the arcade
as Space Panic and was translated for many early machines before
getting elbowed out by superior titles such as Lode Runner. The goal is
to navigate a miner around a basic five-level ladder-connected
playfield, digging holes to trap enemies (mutant apples in this
version) and using your shovel to bash them to death when they fall in.
Levels must be completed within a certain amount of time or your oxygen
runs out. Greatly helping the relay value is the random placement of
ladders, therefore keeping screens from getting monotonous.

Armored Patrol (B+)
Programming a credible Battlezone clone is quite a challenge for this
machine, but this Adventure International title pulls it off with a
well-chosen mix of complex and simple elements to simulate the 3D tank
shooter. The battlefield graphics are as good as a TRS-80 can handle,
with recognizable tanks, obstacles and scrolling landscapes. The radar
is simple and effective, relying on a compass-like system of letters
and characters to indicate where enemy tanks are. Controls preserve the
coin-op's ability to move and turn simultaneously using only four keys,
one of the best implementations on any platform. There's only two
enemies, tanks and laser-armed robots, and they don't act with the same
artificial intelligence as the original, but the game doesn't suffer
much because of it.

Asylum (B)
A very good hybrid graphics/text adventure, where movement is
controlled by the arrow keys through a 3D setting and commands are
typed in traditionally. There are many quality touches here, including
a hint system and full vocabulary list, and the simple graphics do a
good job of showing the rooms and various objects. The goal is to
escape from an asylum filled with traditional hazards such as doctors
and inmates, but also bizarre elements like transporters and vending
machines with bombs available for purchase. Puzzles are mostly logical,
although they're not exactly centered around an in-depth plot and some
are pretty strange (at one point you're supposed to kill yourself with
a knife). Typing in text commands and a few other parts of the game are
a bit slow, but these are minor irritants.

Bable Terror (C-)
Sort of Pac-Man in a giant scrolling maze, but rather dull and
lumbering. You maneuver, avoid monsters and gather stuff for points
before a timer runs out, but with no ability to energize and eat your
foes. The maze is enormous with only a small part visible, but also
limited in its number of pathways and therefore you often have to
retreat to avoid monsters. The only other defense is making yourself
invisible for a few seconds, although with the unpredictable monster
movement this is about as useful as hyperspace on Asteroids or
Defender. There's nothing awful about this game, it just isn't very
fun.

Barricade (C-)
This one-player adaptation of the lightcycle stage from Tron appears to
be an early effort by programmer Yves Lempereur, author of a number of
quality space shooters for Micro 2000, as this was published in a
magazine called RAM. The computer is easy to defeat due to a simple
artificial intelligence scheme seen in many BASIC programs of this
variety during this era. The large graphics of the TRS-80 keeps waves
blissfully quick and the action speeds up as the game progresses, more
a blessing than a challenge. One thing that's really miserable is the
player gets one life, so a single mistake and they have to go through
all the slow waves again. Unlikely to have much staying power beyond
the few games it takes to learn the computer's moves.

The Black Hole (C+)
Speaking of early efforts from Lempereur, this vertical space shooter
appears to be another one that would score a notch or two higher
except, like Barricade, players get one life. The concept is solid:
dodge and shoot meteors in an increasingly narrow passage until you
reach a two-stage "black hole." During the first you must shoot through
a descending shield and destroy the monster at the top of the screen
while avoiding enemy ships, similar to final stage of Gorf. The second
black hole stage requires destroying the core of a Phoenix-like
mothership that slowly descends on you. Not as polished overall as his
better efforts, but entertaining if you can get past the single-life
thing.

Bowling (C-)
A simplistic text-based bowling simulation with a graphic depiction of
the ball hitting pins to spruce things up a bit. Players select a zone
(1-4) to launch the ball and how much hook to give it. The program
shows the ball's path, pins knocked over and keeps score. OK for
killing a few minutes once or twice, but not something likely to hold
interest except for desperate bowlers. It avoids a lower grade due to
good presentation and being free of annoyances and bugs.

Caterpillar (C+)
This seems like it's going to be a decent Centipede port, albeit with a
rather large and sparse mushroom field, until you notice something
funny after the first couple of minutes. There's no spiders or fleas,
just the 'pede. At least until it reaches the bottom of the screen,
upon which it magically transforms itself into a spider and fleas
appear until the mushroom supply is sufficiently replenished. Bad idea
by Soft Sector Marketing, because it dilutes an otherwise promising
game with good speed and playability. The graphics are terrible, but
the Atari 2600 version proves blocks are perfectly serviceable
stand-ins for bugs.

Cosmic Fighter (B)
This Big Five Software release is similar to the basic space shooter
Astro Blaster, with groups of aliens attacking in various patterns
descending from the top of the screen. The player must wipe out a
certain number of waves before running out of ships or fuel, after
which the ship can dock with the mothership and gain the ability to
fire multiple missiles at once (do not, under any circumstances, fire
at the mothership). Almost everything works, including aliens that look
fine despite the Model I's blocky graphics. But what's up with
flagships that pop up occasionally and annihilate players before they
have a fair chance to respond?

The Count (B)
This is "classic adventure" number five in a series by Scott Adams, who
wrote at least 14 text-based titles with themes ranging from an
adoption of the original Colossal Cave to space exploration. They
appeared on many machines and have been written about extensively. The
Count is reviewed here because it's one of his offbeat efforts,
featuring a hero who's overslept in the Translvania castle and, after
getting up, needs to find out mysteries such as why somebody sent him a
bottle of blood. Not his best - it's a bit short - but is fun, logical,
has useful built-in help and an example of how even ordinary efforts
from a quality programmer are worth spending time on.

Crush, Crumble And Chomp (B-)
Imagine the monster-destroys-cities action of Rampage as a turn-based
fantasy/strategy game and you'll get a good idea of what this Epyx
title is about. Players select one of several monsters and customize it
with various abilities such as fire breathing, lashing tails and
ultrasonic screams. Next they choose one of four goals - destroy, eat,
combat or survive - in one of four cities. The chunky graphics are
confusing at first, the game runs slowly and there are a lot of
keyboard commands (one for each type of attack, for instance) that
aren't necessarily intuitive. But the theme turns a potentially
ordinary D&D type game into one with good depth and novelty appeal.

Defense Command (B+)
A single-screen Galaxians-meets-Defender shooter, where aliens try to
raid fuel cells at the bottom of the screen. The player must kill them
and, if they were carrying a cell, capture it when it reaches the
bottom the screen or it is destroyed. Big Five Software delivers its
usual polished effort, with animations showing a mother ship bringing
the player and cells to the surface, and simple and smooth action. A
good effort for those that liked the "familiar feel/different concept"
of the company's games.

Demon Seed (B)
This unofficial port of the coin-op shooter Phoenix is mostly a good
example of a limited number of parts capturing the overall spirit of
the original. Trend Software includes all five arcade stages (three in
reality, since two are repeats), and the controls are logical and
gameplay smooth. But on the first two stages in particular the game
feels more like a cousin than an immediate family member because of
large graphics that reduce the number of on-screen foes. Also, this
game has a terrible flicker problem. Sometimes it's merely a minor
visual nuisance, but it can also lead to some unexpected deaths when
missiles and birds appear in unexpected places rather abruptly.

Eliminator (B+)
A surprisingly good Defender clone from Adventure International who, as
their name suggests, wasn't focusing much on arcade titles until this
one (and a number of subsequent games). All of the coin-op elements are
present, although you're protecting energizers instead of humans, and
the controls and graphics are superior to the acclaimed Alien Defense
mentioned above. Animations such as enemies forming from and exploding
into tiny bits are well done. The only negative is the screen is a bit
cramped due to large gameplay elements and a long-range scanner that
takes up more than the usual space.

Firebird (C+)
For those who lament the slow speed of arcade games on aging machines,
this basic cross between Galaxians and Phoenix ought to please. A laser
cannon with no special abilities beyond firing tries to take out waves
of birds that move in various patterns, bombing and diving at the
player frequently. Everything is kept small and simple, which allows
things to move along speedily, probably too much so for less than
advanced gamers. Nothing else really stands out, so most players will
probably be happier with a number of better titles with similar themes
such as Demon Seed.

Formula (D-)
Ugh. A bad version of one of those scrolling text-based auto racing
games that exist by the dozen for every primitive computer. The only
advantage this one has is it came from Radio Shack, so of course
captive customers got suckered in by it. Even though you're allowed
only one collision there's almost no challenge as the road doesn't vary
enough to challenge anyone out of diapers. The only somewhat
interesting aspect is the occasional "rough" bit of road where
maneuvering speed is reduced. Considering games like this have been
written with a single line of BASIC, one can only wonder how stupid
Tandy thought their customers were by putting the company's name on
this product.

Fortress (C-)
Space Zap is such a simple reflex game - shoot enemies that pop up at
the four edges of the screen by hitting a key that points your cannon
in that direction and firing - it ought to be an ideal conversion for
the TRS-80. But this Soft Sector program blows it by getting little
things wrong. The main one is it's much too difficult, caused by
placing large graphic elements on a tiny screen. If an enemy shows up
at the top or bottom and fires a missile, you're pretty much toast
before you can respond. Also, the W-A-S-Z aiming keys are too close
together for quick response.

Frogger (B+)
This official port of the arcade hit is a good example of altering
games to cope with a machine's limitations while still capturing the
essentials. Cornsoft opted to split the arcade's vertical screen in
half for the TRS-80, showing the highway portion on one screen and the
river on a second. Only hard-core purists will find this a problem,
especially since the game retains extras such as lady frogs to escort,
flies to eat for extra points, snakes to avoid and alligators to treat
with extreme caution. One or two players can opt to start at five
levels, allowing experienced gamers to skip easier stages. But the
music has got to go - the fact that the tunes on the coin-op are one of
the highlights makes the blip-and-bleep stuff here that much more
painful.

Galaxy Invasion Plus (B)
Galaxians done well. That's pretty much all that needs to be said for
this Big Five Software title, which will appeal to fans of the original
not wanting to put up with various "enhancements" many similar games
have. The only differences of note are the screen is more cramped than
the arcade's due to the larger graphic elements and gameplay speeds up
as enemies are killed and the burden on the CPU is reduced.

The Gobbling Box (C+)
An OK Pac-Man imitator, but turn down that sound. And make it so
players can recognize when the monsters are edible. The maze is
different than the coin-op, but not as far afield as some other clones.
Gameplay is OK. The graphics are a little chunky. But it's the problems
with the sound and energizer power indicators that sink this into the
class of "pass up for something else that's better."

Game Over

Looks like it's time to call it an issue. Thanks once again for
tuning in for more retrogaming goodness. Be sure to drop by next month
as we continue the longest-running free retrogaming newsletter ever.
Until then, game on!